The present invention relates to a hair iron to straighten hair by a finger operation, and in particular to a castanet-like hair iron which makes it possible to iron freely by a simple finger operation.
A conventional hair iron has a plane, elongated, virtually rectangular shape, having a heating surface on the interior surface of one end of an arm-like holder bar so that in an ironing operation, a user has to hold the end of a joint member in a position remote from the heating surface. Therefore, the operation is extremely difficult for females having a weak grip.
FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of a conventional arm-like hair iron. This arm-like hair iron 101 comprises elongated rectangular holding members 104 and 105, which are joined via a joint member 106 for flexible opening and closing and have a heating surface 102 and a pressing surface 103 oppositionally on their interior surfaces. Hair ironing operation with this hair iron 101 is performed by gripping the holding members 104 and 105 with fingers A, sandwiching a bundle of hair between the abovementioned heating surface 102 and pressing surface 103 positioned remote from the fingers A and the palm, and controlling the force on the holding members 104 and 105 to iron the bundle of hair. However, in the abovementioned arm-like hair iron 101, it is difficult to control the force because the part for gripping with the fingers A is positioned remote from the abovementioned heating surface and pressing surface when the arm-like holding members 104 and 105 having the abovementioned heating surface 102 and pressing surface 103 oppositionally on their interior surfaces are gripped with the fingers A. This makes it difficult especially for females with a weak grip to sandwich the bundle of hair between the abovementioned heating surface 102 and pressing surface 103 to perform ironing with force. Furthermore, since the heating surface is positioned remote from the fingers, it takes considerable time to master the hair ironing operation which requires a delicate force control.
In a castanet-like hair iron of the present invention, holding members are not conventional arm-like, elongated, virtually rectangular-shaped, but castanet-shaped, in which the reverse sides of the heating surface and pressing surface, namely the exterior surface of the holding members can be directly gripped so that the reverse sides of the heating surface and pressing surface of the holding members, namely the exterior surface of the holding members having the heating surface and the pressing surface oppositionally in their interior surfaces can be pressed with the thumb and the other 3 or 4 fingers while the palm supports the area where the fingers straddle the joining part of said holding members. Thus, the heating surface and the pressing surface can be manipulated more accurately, delicately and easily than those in the conventional arm-like hair iron so that the hair ironing can be flexibly performed.
In order to solve the abovementioned problems associated with the conventional arm-like hair iron, the present invention provides a castanet-like hair iron in which a heating surface and a pressing surface are oppositionally placed on the interior surfaces of a pair of plane, virtually square holding members joined with a joint member at their ends so as to realize an easy hair ironing operation.
Namely, the present invention is fundamentally composed of the following configurations.
(1) A castanet-like hair iron characterized in that a pair of holding members having a heating surface and a pressing surface oppositionally on their interior surfaces are joined via a joint member at their ends and flexibly opened and closed by the pressing force of the palm and fingers which straddle said joint member.
(2) A castanet-like hair iron as described in (1) above, wherein hair heating surfaces are placed oppositionally.
(3) A castanet-like hair iron as described in (1) or (2) above, wherein the exterior surfaces of said holding members are smooth surfaces.
(4) A castanet-like hair iron as described in (1), (2) or (3) above, wherein a slip preventing surface to prevent the fingers from slipping is provided on the exterior surface of at least one of said holding members in immediate proximity to a position where the fingers straddle the joint member.
(5) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (4) above, wherein said slip preventing surfaces have continuous or discontinuous grooves formed parallel to and/or at right angles to the fingers.
(6) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (5) above, wherein a fingertip fitting cup to prevent the fingers from slipping is provided on the exterior surface of at least one of said holding members in immediate proximity to a position where the fingers straddle the joint member.
(7) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (6) above, wherein a finger trapping loop to prevent the fingers from slipping is provided on the exterior surface of at least one of said holding members in immediate proximity to a position where the fingers straddle the joint member.
(8) A castanet-like hair iron as described in (7) above, wherein said finger trapping loop is made of an elastic material in multiple numbers for individual fingers or in one loop for multiple fingers.
(9) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (8) above, wherein a slip preventing surface, a fingertip fitting cup and/or a finger trapping loop to prevent the fingers from slipping are provided on the exterior surface of at least one of said holding members in immediate proximity to a position where the fingers straddle the joint member.
(10) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (9) above, wherein the holding members can be strongly pulled in the side direction by grasping them with the palm or fingers at a position so as to straddle the joint member so that a bunch of hair can be ironed to the tip in one stroke by pulling the hair in the side direction while sandwiching it between the holding members.
(11) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (10) above, wherein an exterior connecting member is extended from the side of the joint member at a position separate from the joining end of said holding members.
In a castanet-like hair iron of the present invention, the holding members having a heating surface and/or a pressing surface oppositionally on their interior surfaces are held with fingers so as to be sandwiched in the palm straddling a joint member which joins said holding members so that an opening and closing motion of the holding members and an opening and closing operation of the fingers are unified. As a result, the hair iron can be easily held and the opening and closing of the holding members can be flexibly and firmly controlled by a delicate finger operation.
Furthermore, in a castanet-like hair iron of the present invention which is operated by placing fingers to straddle said joint member, erroneous actions associated with the opening and closing motion of the holding members can be prevented by providing a slip preventing surface on the exterior surface of at least one of the holding members to prevent the fingers from slipping, although a plain surface on the exterior surface of the holding members causes no problem in operation.
Furthermore, in a castanet-like hair iron of the present invention, a cup is appropriately formed on the exterior surface of at least one of the holding members, corresponding to the thumb and/or a fingertip of the index finger, the middle finger and/or the third finger, which makes it possible to unify the pressing force of the finger and the opening and closing motion of the holding members by fitting the finger in the cup. As a result, the hair iron can be held more securely and the opening and closing of the holding members can be flexibly controlled by a delicate finger operation to provide the desired pressure on the bundle of hair.
Furthermore, in a hair iron of the present invention, since a slip preventing surface to prevent the fingers from slipping or a cup to fit fingertips is provided on the exterior surface of one or both of the holding members, a strong pulling action in the side direction becomes possible so that a bunch of hair can be ironed to the tip in one stroke by pulling the hair to the side while sandwiching it between the holding members, which improves the flexibility of the ironing operation. Similar ironing is possible by providing a finger trapping loop into which a fingertip can be inserted. Further, the exterior connecting member is extended from the side of the joint member in a position separate from the end of the joint member side of said holding members so that the fingers can straddle the joint member without being interfered by the exterior connecting member. As a result, workability can be secured even in cases where a power source or any other exterior connecting member is installed.
Embodiments of the invention will be explained as follows.
A castanet-like hair iron of the present invention is to be explained by several examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.
In a hair iron of the present invention, a pair of holding members having a heating surface and a pressing surface oppositionally on their interior surfaces are joined so that they can be opened and closed via a joint member at their ends. An external connecting member such as a cord for a power source is extended from the side of said holding member at a position separate from the end of the joint member. Unfolding springs are installed on both holding members to realize flexible opening and closing.
In this case, it is preferable to provide a slip preventing surface on the exterior surface of at least one of the holding members to prevent the fingers from slipping, although a plain surface on the exterior surface of the holding members causes no problem in operation. On the slip preventing surface, a number of fine, continuous or discontinuous grooves are formed parallel to and/or at right angles to the fingers to make the surface highly frictional.
Furthermore, a cup into which a fingertip of the thumb, the index finger, the middle finger, or the third finger can fit is appropriately formed on the exterior surface of at least one of the holding members. Of course, it is possible to provide both a slip preventing surface and a cup.
Furthermore, in order to secure the opening and closing operation of the holding members, a finger trapping loop to secure a finger is formed on the exterior surface of at least one of the abovementioned holding members, which makes the operation easier. This finger trapping loop placed in a position for fingers straddling the joint member is used to insert fingers for opening and closing of the holding members. This finger trapping loop is made in multiple numbers for individual fingers or in one loop for all fingers for an effective operation of both holding members.